Lost in the Shadows
by A Keeper
Summary: The Second installment of Loki's Shadow. Shadow's mysterious nature draws Loki's attention to her and when an intruder invades with intentions to kill, more things are revealed than Shadow desires. These are my first attempts, please review! I recommend reading Loki's Shadow before this if you want to understand it better:)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter Two: Bitter Words and Broken Images

As he walked to the Throne Chamber, the feeling of being followed had abandoned him. But when he entered the room, he abruptly stopped and starred as his eyes came in contact with the universal eyes he had seen before.

His Shadow.

She was seated across from the only empty seat at the table and beside her was a man with gray hair and a strict expression.

"Come, my son, sit with us so that we may begin our discussion." Odin said, snapping him out of his state and he handed the book to his father, taking a seat across from her and beside Thor who sat opposed to the man.

"There is not much I can reveal to you at this point," Odin began. Thor and the man paid complete attention to the All-Father; Loki and his Shadow only starred at each other. A sly smile on her face and a glare upon his. "There is concern among our people because of a strange collection of murders that seems to be leading to this household, your mother and I have agreed that it would make us all feel better knowing that you were protected efficiently."

"Why would we need protection? Can we not handle ourselves?" Thor asked. "Have you not trained us to protect ourselves from danger?"

"In other circumstances I would be perfectly fine without additional protection, but in light of recent events, we have learned that we are facing an enemy that you have been neither trained nor taught of." He replied.

"But these two have?" Loki questioned. "Who gives training to only two people in the kingdom?"

"They have had direct contact with the new threat, I think it is appropriate that they be the ones to protect you." He explained. "Agmund will be your guard, Thor. This Lady shall be yours, Loki."

"Why is it that my guard has no name?" He questioned. He was surprised to find that Odin looked to her for an answer. How was that possible? He was the All-Father, he knew all the answers!

"If you insist on specifics, then call me Shadow. Never shall I reveal my true name to anyone I am not completely trustworthy of." She replied.

"You don't trust the people of Odin's own household?" Thor asked. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him like he committed a murder.

"Merely cautious, my prince." She said stonily.

"This meeting is dismissed." Odin said, breaking a silence that had been placed between them all. He left to tend to some matters about the assassin business; Thor and Agmund left for the training field. Only Loki and the Shadow remained.

"Who are you? Surely someone of your likes would be busy with...other things." He said, the glare on his face becoming permanent.

Her eyes narrowed, "You think that just because I am a woman I should be in a home with a husband, cooking, cleaning and tending children? You don't believe I could actually fight someone in a battle, do you? I didn't realize that a son of Odin could be a sexist, too."

He raised an eyebrow, noting how she tried to avoid the subject of family. "You don't have a family?"

Her hard expression softened and the question, though it didn't seem surprising to her, weakened her resolve. He seemed to have found the one thing that she didn't want to discuss, that was always how he slipped through the crevices of his foe and dislodged their very being. Perhaps, she would become but a shadow to him.

But something in her eyes, her vast, wondrous eyes, made him rethink his plan. Maybe she wasn't one to mess with. Maybe, behind her thick mask, there was sadness, there was desire, there was a deep longing that had just begun to breech the surface and leak into the colors of the mask she wore.

"I used to." She replied, not looking at him and taking an interest in the table. "They were taken from me in a horrid way. Leaving only bitter words and broken images, fragments, that make up the memories of something so cruel it does not have a right to be remembered by anyone. There is no one left for me."

His hard expression was shattered. Who was she and what was she hiding? He had a sinking feeling that there was more to his shadow than he had thought. There was light inside her, but it was burning thin, turning to embers. He couldn't help but wonder what it would take to make that ember spark.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Three: A Strange Understanding

She trailed him _everywhere. _It wouldn't be as bad if she walked beside him like a normal guard, but she slipped into the shadows and seemed to have eyes on everything. He felt as if the whole of Asgard was watching him and if he messed up in front of her, he made a fool of himself to everyone.

By the time he had reached the door of his room, she had materialized behind him and he turned to her. Time had slid by unexpectedly quick in terms of light. But when he counted the hours, it had been nearly five hours that she was assigned the role of guard to him and he already felt violated.

"What now?" He asked, slight mockery in his tone. "Are you going to sleep with me?"

Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red and she looked towards the ground saying, "Um, no thanks."

His face turned bright red with embarrassment and he turned to the door, opening it and walking inside, biding her a silent good night.

"Sleep well, young prince." She said with a nod of her head and she turned to face away from him, assuming a guard position.

A few hours later her words seemed like daggers to him. He couldn't sleep. It wouldn't come to him. He debated using magic, but worried that he wasn't in complete control of it and may sleep forever. His mind drifted...and soon found a place upon the Shadow. There were too many questions and far too few answers.

A little while longer brought about his decision to talk to her. He stood and walked towards the door, but before he opened it, he heard a strange sound.

There was a strange melody in the air and with it came humming. It was a strange bit of music, full of feeling. The feelings were the most frightening aspect though, the music was composed of sadness and hatred, but as it crept towards its end, it slowed, and revealed that the original score was a soft melody, joyful even. Something had transformed the elegant sound into a beast of hate.

The strange music came to an abrupt halt and he heard footsteps down the hall.

After they passed, he opened the door. Startled, Shadow jumped and dropped something on the floor near his feet.

"My prince," She said, bowing. Her head blocked his view of the item she dropped, but when she rose again, the item was gone. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not really," He admitted immediately. "I just wanted a word with you."

"Yes, of course." She replied. She was being uncharacteristically cooperative. Then he silently chastised himself for thinking that he had known her long enough to know her characteristics. Then she entered, slightly hesitant, and for a long while, all he could do was stare at the ground in thought. She still didn't wear any shoes.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked. "Was it something I have done?"

"Not...exactly." He replied. "I have a hard time accepting someone to protect me when I know nothing about them. Would you care to explain to me more about yourself?"

Her face remained expressionless, though her eyes seemed to hold a sadness that seemed older than time itself; she replied, "You have asked for the one thing that I swore to myself never to give."

"Could you at least tell me why?"

She too, looked to the ground in thought. Her mouth opened once as if to reply, but no words came out. Eventually, after several attempts, she succeeded, "My past is like a scar. It is there to remind me of my mistakes, and protect me for doing them again. Sometimes, they blend in too well for my comfort, other times, they open and bleed."

She paused for a moment, collecting her words and continued, "Sometimes I pretend to be different, have my own rules, to make up for the horrors. But they are apart of me, and they will never go away."

"I know what you mean." He murmured.

She looked from the ground to him, her eyes flaring with anger, "How could you?" She exclaimed. "You are burdened with glorious purpose, while I have the burden of...of what I've done."

"At least you are free."

"Free? Freedom is the great lie of all worlds. I keep telling myself that when I accept that, I will know peace. But there is something keeping me from doing so, probably my scars."

"You know, Lady Shadow," He said with a slight smile. "You're not as complicated as you seem to think."

She eyed him suspiciously, as if he had received more out of what she said than she wanted.

But they didn't have any more time to speak. The window of his room shattered and a dark figure with a mask baring the image of a grinning snake emerged from the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Four: Putting Skills to the Test

Shadow drew her sword, her weapon of choice, and placed herself between Loki and the intruder.

"Ah," Said the intruder. "Long time, no see, _friend_." The voice belonged to a woman and she spat the word 'friend' as if it was hard to say.

"You are no friend of mine." Shadow replied harshly. The intruder shrugged and brought down her sword against Shadows'. They made a strange metallic clang before both swords lost their grips on each other and Shadow made a swing at the intruders head, but she ducked and rolled out of the way. With another swift move and dodge, Shadow was hit with the hilt of the sword on her temple.

_What are you doing!_ He thought. _You've never sat out a fight before, and you're letting her protect you?!_

With the flick of his wrist, the curtains that belonged to the shattered window sprung to life and gripped the unsuspecting intruder by the hand that didn't have a sword.

She was surprised for a second, only a second, but that was all the time a shadow needed.

She kicked the sword out of her hand and it skittered across the floor. The intruder went to grab it but Shadow had already taken hold of it.

The intruder laughed. It was a haunting laugh as if she knew that Shadow would do such and she wanted her to. "Do you think that serving a king will wash out the stains of your past? There is nothing that will outweigh the amount of your sins." She laughed once more and with her free hand, cast a few black orbs to the ground, which exploded upon impact and when the smoke cleared, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you alright?" She asked, turning to him. A thin streak of blood trickled from her temple.

He nodded and placed a hand on her cheek, wiping away the blood and replied, "But you're hurt, you need to go to the-"

"I'm fine." She interrupted. "It is my responsibility to protect you at all costs, that includes my life and my liberation from pain."

His face reddened slightly as did hers at the idea that he would touch his guard. His soldier. His Shadow. That he would touch her in fear because she had been injured.

She took a step backward, his hand smeared the blood across her face and he glanced at his hand. It looked as if he had committed a murder and that she was the ghost of the one he had killed, haunting him. Following him. A ghost was like a shadow, he concluded, the only difference was that one was darker than the other.

She starred at him with something gleaming in her eyes that he couldn't identify. Was it hatred? Fear? Anger? Sadness? No, there was something stranger glowing in her eyes. Something so alien to him, that he did not yet understand what was happening.

But she did. And she knew that there was no greater torture or punishment than what she was about to endure.

"Get to your father," She told him. "Tell him what has happened and that I'm going to patrol the boundaries of the castle in search of our intruder."

She went to the door and opened it, preparing to leave when he stopped her, "She referred to you as a friend, at least once. Do you know her?"

She did not turn to look at him. Maybe it was because she didn't want him to manipulate her mind. Perhaps because she was afraid she would cry. "I know not the monster that she has become. Once, long ago, yes, she was someone I was...caring to. But that friend has died. Like I said before, there is no one left for me."

Then she left; a trail of blood following her.

He glanced at his hand again, which glittered red in the moonlight. What sort of friend would become a monster that killed? He felt certain that he wouldn't become such a thing, but he was unaware of the events about to take place.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Five: Hidden Wounds

He didn't see her again until the next day and nearly didn't recognize her. She hadn't cleaned that much of the blood on her face from the night before, some of it had dried and turned a darker shade of red and brown. He even thought he saw new cuts on her arms, shoulders, and face. She looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep whatsoever. She seemed so frail, that the slightest breeze could knock her over.

"Are you alright?" He asked, approaching her gently.

"In truth," She put her hand to her head. "Absolutely not."

She completely collapsed and he, unable to let her hit the ground, caught her. She shook her head in an attempt to knock her back into her senses but it was a futile attempt.

"Guards, please help!" He called and two guards came running, from where, he knew not. They pulled her to her feet and assisted her in walking back to her room.

After a healer declared her well enough to see, he walked into her room.

She ran her fingers through her hair and bore a grim face. She did not look to him as he entered the room, only sat on the edge of her bed in thought.

"Thank you for catching me. I'm not entirely sure what that was about, but I have a vague idea." She told him as he took a seat beside her. She looked better than before, her face was clean from the blood that he had accidentally smeared across her face and her arms were wrapped in bandages. "Odin picked the wrong person to protect his son, I can not do this any longer, it will end up costing someone more than they bargained for."

"You're giving up after one attack?" He asked, standing as she stood to pack her things.

"You wouldn't understand." She insisted, stuffing random books and trinkets into a bag.

He began to pull things out as she put them in, then grabbed her hand so that she would look at him and said, "Then explain it to me until I do."

She scowled and tore her arm away yelling, "You will never understand!"

She turned away and threw things into her bag once more. He grabbed her arm spun her around and planted a kiss on her lips.

After he came away, she just stood, a blank expression on her face and...could it be? There were tears in her eyes.

"And that is why, my Prince," She said still holding that blank look with hints of sadness. "I have to leave."

A look of confusion crossed his face, "Because of me?"

She nodded and a tear fell from her eyes, which she closed tight and her breathing became ragged. She covered her face with her hands and sunk to her knees.

"No more," She cried into her hands, shaking her head. He knelt before her, scared that the cold blooded guard that was his Shadow had fallen apart before his eyes. "No more pain because of me. I won't allow you to gain pain from me."

"It would hurt me if you left as well." He said, taking one of her shaking hands.

"You don't understand, you could never understand. I can't...I can't let you hurt because of me. I care about you enough to know that I have to leave so it won't get any messier."

There wasn't any talking after that. There was a sound like a boulder hitting against the wall of the castle. It was followed by screams and another boulder must've hit the wall, for there was shattering glass and the cracking of stone upon stone.

She stood and grabbed her sword, as if the conversation they just had didn't take place, and ran out the door. He followed her of course and found that there were a good hundred warriors attacking the castle, which wasn't normally a bad thing except for the fact that every one of them were as skilled as the intruder had been last night.

She immediately joined the ranks of the Asgardian warriors who had begun to fight and it was clear that they were all trying to follow her lead. Loki was trying to help as much as possible, but it seemed as if she could handle herself pretty well.

Odin joined the fighting too, and after a while, everyone had gone out to hunt the strays who had limped away from the scene.

Loki had wandered a little too far and found himself face to face with the intruder from the previous night.

She raised her bow, with an arrow notched and fired quicker than he had time to react and he closed his eyes. He felt no pain. Nothing had touched him. Maybe he was dead and had died a quick and painless death.

But no. Fate would not allow him to die before they tortured him first.

He opened his eyes and found that the intruder had disappeared but he was unscathed. He turned around to find the intruder when he confronted Shadow.

She was pulling an arrow from her heart.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Six: His Promise

She fell and he caught her, laying her on the floor. He pushed his hands against her wound to cease the blood flow from it and he could start to try and heal her, but she only shook her head and placed a hand against his scared and denying face.

"No, you'll be alright, let me get Odin, he can-"

"Don't!" She cried, grimacing in pain as she grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving. "There's...there's something I have to tell you."

He continued to shake his head and gripped her hand as it grew colder and did not held with as much strength as before.

"I knew this would never work," She said through choking gasps. "And I think in your heart, you did too."

He begged her to be quiet and to allow him to try and heal her or to get his father to heal her, but she pressed on and gripped his hand harder whenever he tried to leave. "My name...my name is Lofn...Goddess of Forbidden Love."

She lurched forward and coughed blood onto his green tunic, but he didn't care, she was dying. She was Lofn. Of course! Why hadn't he thought of it before!

"Loki, you have to...you have to promise me something..." She told him, her vision becoming blurry and her eye contact with him wavering.

"Anything." He assured her.

"You...you must...promise me..." Her voice faltered and her eyes closed. He shook her, but she would not wake.

"What? What must I promise you?" He cried, tears crawling down his face.

"_You must promise me that you will care for your family, no matter what you learn."_ Her voice whispered in his mind. He could only nod and accept it. Anything meant he was willing to do anything.

He ensured that she had a funeral worthy of a queen and watched as her body was laid in a tomb, never to be opened again.

He grieved in silence in his lonely tower that had never felt so empty or unsafe. He watched as his father and brother whispered to each other. Showing curiosity in something for the first time since her death and desiring something to take his mind off of her, he cast a spell that allowed him to hear what they were saying.

"Father, I do not think killing her was the best decision." Thor said.

"I may know everything, but Loki's reaction to her death was unforeseen. She knew the consequences if they became too close, we just didn't know that they would become a reality." Odin replied.

Loki's blood boiled and his face grew red. Anger simmered in every ounce of his body. "I'm sorry Lofn, but you have asked for the one thing I can not give."

On that day, he hatched a plan. A plan to make his brother and father pay for their mistake of killing the one he loved. Anything may have meant anything, but that was before he learned that it was his family who was responsible for her death.

Epilogue

He tried and failed. His plan to conquer the human world his brother held so dearly had backfired and he was forced to return home with his oaf of a brother and face the justice of his "father."

He heard a musical laughter and looked over his shoulder to see a woman walking with a man who had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. She smiled and seemed to enjoy herself. She looked up and found the God of Mischief starring back at her. The mortal girl had strange eyes. They didn't seem to belong to one so young. They were like looking into the vast universe, filled with stars, planets and the unknown regions that contained creatures long since forgotten. Close to the pupil, there were hints of orange while the outer rim held varieties of purple and green, though most of her eyes were ice blue.

She smiled at him and nodded, then the man and she turned in a different direction and he lost sight of her.

_I'm sorry, Lofn._ He thought._ I'm so sorry._


End file.
